The Belgrove Distillery is the first Rye Distillery to open in Australia. Located at 3121 Midland Highway in Kempton-Tasmania, just North of Hobart. It’s one of the only self-sustaining distilleries in Australia which is owned and operated by Peter Bignell.

Peter Bignell is a man of many talents – farmer, coppersmith, engineer, sculptor, environmentalist and bio-fuel chemist and he can now add “Distiller of Australia’s first 100% Rye Whisky” to his long list of accomplishments. He came to whisky-making by an agricultural mishap. Back in 2008, his farm in Kempton yielded a bumper crop of rye which was one of the best Peter had experienced in his 40-odd years growing grain. Faced with all that extra rye, Peter did the obvious thing, he applied his sculpting and engineering nous to build his own 500 litre copper pot still which he directly fires with biofuel (used cooking oil) from a roadhouse next to his farm. It also powers his farm machinery and heats his house.

The rye used in the whisky is grown a couple hundred metres from the distillery on his family farm and the grain is malted on site as well which saves on having to transport it. Once all the sugar has been extracted from the grain, Peter uses the spent mash to feed his sheep and pigs hence ensuring every bit of waste is utilised

Peter’s rye whisky has now spent several years in barrels ranging in size from 50 litres to 200 litres and we’re certainly proud to support his distillery and rye whisky whilst having one eye of the importance of terroir and sustainable living.